There's an Irvine house of worship that changes religions at least once a week. Irvine United Congregational Church sports golden crosses for Sunday morning services. Jewish High Holidays see it transformed into a sanctuary for Congregation Kol HaNeshamah, filled with Torahs, ram's horns and yarmulkes. And Friday afternoons, worshipers carefully unroll prayer rugs onto the floor of what becomes the United Mosques of Irvine. "Our theology is inclusive," says the Rev.

The public corporation planning to build a 1,000-acre park in the center of the former El Toro Marine base has whittled seven possible designers down to three. The semifinalists to design the Orange County Great Park are Mirrales Tagliabue EMBT of Barcelona, Spain, whose plan features hilly terrain and a central lake; Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey of Mill Valley, Calif.

A single-car crash sparked a 7-acre brush fire Sunday that briefly threatened the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, where thousands of people were attending a car show. No evacuations were ordered, and the fire was under control in about an hour, said Capt. Steve Miller, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority. The blaze began about 1:30 p.m. after a distracted driver heading north on the Laguna Freeway lost control on the southbound San Diego Freeway connector, Miller said.

A 23-year-old landscaper was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter after a passenger in his car died following a crash last week, officials said Wednesday. Alberto Reyes, 22, died Sunday of head injuries sustained Friday when a car driven by Horacio Melo Vazquez crashed into a traffic signal pole on Jamboree Road near Walnut Avenue. Vazquez, of Orange, was taken to Orange County Jail, where he was being held in lieu of $250,000 bail, police said.

An 8-month-old girl who died this week after being hospitalized may have been slain, authorities said Thursday. The death is being investigated after an autopsy revealed that the infant died of blunt force trauma to the back of her head, Irvine Police Lt. Jeff Love said. The unidentified girl was being cared for by a baby-sitter when she was taken to Irvine Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead about 5 p.m. Monday. No arrests have been made, police said.

An 87-year-old woman who disappeared from an assisted-living home last week was found dead Thursday near a remote bike path, officials said. Laverne Kirby was found about 10 a.m. in shrubbery near the San Diego Freeway and University Drive by a woman walking her dog, police said. Kirby, who suffers from dementia and took daily medications, was reported missing May 26. Police said foul play does not appear to be a factor. An autopsy will be performed.

Police asked for the public's help Friday in the search for an 87-year-old woman suffering from dementia who has been missing from an assisted living home since Thursday. Officials say Laverne Kirby -- 5'3" tall and 118 pounds with gray hair and brown eyes -- is in need of daily medication. Kirby was last seen about 9 p.m. Thursday at the residential home on Creek Road, said Sgt. Bill Russell, a spokesman for the Irvine Police Department.

The man shot to death at an Irvine nightclub over the weekend was identified Monday as David Pea, 25, a security guard at Chanteclair restaurant, where the shooting occurred. The Anaheim resident was one of three apparent victims in the 2 a.m. incident Saturday in the parking lot of the restaurant on the 18000 block of MacArthur Boulevard. The restaurant becomes a nightclub on weekends. A second man was grazed by a bullet in the neck and a third was beaten, authorities said.

Braving heavy rain that drenched coats, hats and umbrellas, an estimated 2,000 protesters gathered outside an Irvine hotel Tuesday to express their opposition to a variety of proposals by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was attending a fundraiser inside. "Shame on you!" chanted the crowd, outside the Hyatt Regency Irvine, while waving banners with such messages as "Teacher Terminator" and "Arnold, Go Back to Hollywood."

A car burst into flames Tuesday after being rear-ended by another car and struck by a Metrolink train, police said. No one was injured in the 4 p.m. crash on Jeffrey Road between Walnut Avenue and Irvine Center Drive, said Lt. Jeff Love of the Irvine Police Department. The crash occurred when the first car -- occupied by a Hacienda Heights woman and her daughter -- stopped for the train but was pushed into its path by a car driven by an Irvine girl, 16.